


heaven, ever slowly, got the point

by lostin_space



Series: Roswell New Mexico Week 2019 [3]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Roswell New Mexico Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 15:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19976587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: isobel needs a little help---day 4: celebrating the women of roswell





	heaven, ever slowly, got the point

**Author's Note:**

> technically the prompt is "not just sugar and spice" but I have battled with this fic for like a month. I've rewritten it a million times and this is the only thing i managed to salvage from it

“Isobel, c’mon, this isn’t healthy.”

“He sat by me every day, I’m going to sit by him.”

Isobel’s eyes stayed trained on the pod in front of her. Max was sitting inside it, looking as peaceful as ever. She had religiously sat in the cave for two weeks now. It was the longest she’d ever gone without a shower and she was so sure she was disgusting, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave him.

At the end of the day, it was her fault he was in there. It was her stupidity that let Noah get close and under their skin. It was her who let him go off on his own when she knew he was on some power high. She had been a bad sister. She needed to make up for it.

“Maybe so, but you wanna know the difference?” Liz said as she came to sit beside her. She didn’t look much better, but she definitely smelled better.

“Look, if you’re gonna give me some self-righteous speech, you can save it and let me wallow in peace,” she grumbled, pulling her knees to her chest.

“No, actually I was going to say that he couldn’t help you,” Liz started, her voice a little sterner than before, “That was all up to me and Michael. This… You can help him, Isobel. But sitting in here and wallowing isn’t helping.” Isobel snapped her head to face Liz with a cold glare, trying to hide the tears that pricked at her eyes. And to think she was just starting to like Liz.

“So, you come here to make me feel even worse? Thanks, Liz, really,” she spat, a painful laugh falling from her lips. Liz looked at her with nothing but sympathy.

“No. I came here to say you need to get up, decompress, bathe, and then come to the bunker tomorrow so you can work with Michael. He can’t do it on his own. He needs you. They both do,” Liz insisted. Isobel sniffled, wiping her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to get up. She really was exhausted. “Look, I’ll drive you to the Crashdown and you can freshen up. You can borrow some of my clothes,” Liz insisted, helping her to her feet. Isobel tried to smile in return.

“No offense, but I think everything you own will be too short for me.” 

“That… is absolutely true, so we’ll go to your place,” Liz said, offering a lighthearted little chuckle. Isobel appreciated it even if it was forced.

She gave Max one last look before letting herself be dragged away.

-

“Welcome back to life, princess.”

Isobel gave a wary glance towards Liz at the presence of a new person in her house. She hadn’t really anticipated seeing anyone else and she definitely didn’t look the part. Fresh out of the shower, her hair hung wet against her tattered comfort-clothes and seeped through to her back. She had seen her face in the mirror. The fewer people that saw that, the better.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve asked, but I felt a little girls’ night might help,” Liz said, giving a smile so sweet that Isobel found it hard to shut her down. Maybe it would be easier to sleep if she didn’t have to be in this hell house by herself anyways.

“It’s okay,” Isobel said softly, moving to sit on the barstool beside Maria.

“When’s the last time you ate?” Liz asked, leaning against the counter. Isobel shrugged. She couldn’t actually remember. Michael had brought her a few things to snack on over the two weeks, but he’d been busy and hadn’t come often enough to keep her actually fed. She hadn’t eaten everything he brought anyway. “Right. Well, I already checked when you were in the shower and you have nothing, so I am gonna order a lot of take out and we’re gonna eat our feelings.” 

“Okay.”

Liz left her and Maria alone for a minute which would absolutely be a problem most days, but she didn’t have it in her. Her thoughts drifted back to Max. She knew there was no way he was aware in there because she hadn’t been. Whenever he wakes up, he’s going to feel like absolutely no time has passed. But she doesn’t want it to be years and years before they can wake him up. If they ever can. She hadn’t talked to Liz much about how things are going with Rosa, but she can imagine it’s going to be damn near impossible to reintegrate her into society. Too many people still know her face.

The same will be for Max if they don’t fix this soon.

“I can braid your hair, if you want,” Maria suddenly said, breaking the silence and forcing her to get out of her head, “You know, make you feel a little more presentable.” There wasn’t anything condescending about her words, surprisingly. She seemed genuinely eager to assist. And she had a point. Isobel _did_ want to feel more presentable.

“If you want.”

Isobel felt her eyes fall closed as Maria’s fingers combed through her hair, gently undoing the knots she came across. Expert hands weaved it together quickly, but carefully, hardly even tugging.

“I know not everything is going your way,” Maria said as she tied off the end of the braid, her voice still kind as ever. She tugged Isobel chair to swivel just enough to put her hand on her cheek, staring right into her eyes to make sure she was listening. Isobel was. “But think of it like this: this is as low as it gets. You’re Isobel motherfucking Evans. You’ve made shit happen since the day you were born, you will make shit happen now. If I believe in anyone to bring back Max, to come back from a literal controlling husband, and all the other traumatic shit you’ve had happen, it’s you.” 

Isobel gulped slightly as she stared at Maria, tears pricking her eyes at the sincerity she was giving.

“It doesn’t feel like it.” Maria gave a soft smile, her soft thumb rubbing over her cheek. 

“I know it doesn’t. But, listen to me, I believe in you. And I believe in Liz and Michael and Alex and Kyle who are all working their asses off to try to get him back. You’re not alone, Isobel. We’re all here and we’re all helping, we just still need you. Like I said, you make shit happen,” she said. Isobel let out a little laugh, sniffling as she looked down. Maria pulled her into a welcoming hug. “Me ‘n Liz aren’t going anywhere tonight. You’re gonna get some rest and tomorrow we’re going to go hard in helping him. Okay?”

Isobel nodded. She didn’t know what she did to deserve both Liz and Maria helping her today, but she was more thankful than she’d ever been in her entire fucking life. Maybe she could get through this.

“Okay.”

Later, Isobel found herself securely cuddled up between two women who had previously hated her. She still wasn’t too sure what she did to deserve them, but she was certain this was the only thing she’d been thankful for in weeks.

And she wasn’t going to mess it up.


End file.
